Losers of four straight games entering Thursday night’s visit to Chicago, the Washington Commanders certainly sense the urgency of their Week 6 clash with the Bears.
“It’s definitely a must-win,” Commanders defensive tackle Jonathan Allen said. “We’re 1-4. I don’t know too many teams that have started out 1-5 and still had a good season.”
Washington has lost by nine, 16, 15 and four points since edging the Jacksonville Jaguars in the season opener.
Next comes a challenge from a young Bears team that squandered a late lead in a road loss to Minnesota but might finally be feeling optimistic about the play of second-year quarterback Justin Fields.
Fields was 15-of-21 passing for 208 yards and a touchdown against the Vikings while rushing for 47 yards on eight carries. He appeared poised to lead a possible game-tying drive at Minnesota before a late fumble by Ihmir Smith-Marsette ended the Bears’ chances.
Fields indicated he never had felt more comfortable as a pro than he did Sunday, an encouraging development to offensive coordinator Luke Getsy, who hopes for more of the same from Fields as Chicago (2-3) returns home for the first time since Week 3.
“That’s the experience part of it that’s hard for everybody to have patience with,” Getsy said. “It’s cool that he’s seeing that or saying that, but hopefully what he sees and how he views everything 10 games from now, hopefully he can even say that more dramatically. That’s part of playing this position. You can’t say or feel those things unless you experience it in the games.”
Commanders fans can attest to the uneasiness many Bears backers were feeling about Fields before this week.
Washington quarterback Carson Wentz has been more inconsistent than not in his first season with the team, and he recently came under fire from coach Ron Rivera. While Wentz passed for 359 yards and two scores against Tennessee a week ago, his interception at the 1-yard line with six seconds to play ended any comeback hopes and overshadowed much of the good vibes. The Commanders lost 21-17.
Rivera gave a one-word answer why his team was further behind division rivals in their respective rebuilds: “Quarterback.” But he issued a mea culpa for his comments Tuesday and reiterated his faith in Wentz and the rest of the Commanders.
“Going forward, I feel good about what we have,” Rivera said. “It’s just now a matter of putting it together, and we’ve got to do it one game at a time. And we’ve got to focus in on Chicago and going out and playing better. It starts with me. We’ve got to make sure that we are doing the things that we give these guys the best opportunity to show up on game day and play well.”
Washington (18 points per game) and Chicago (17.2 ppg) rank 26th and tied for 27th in scoring, respectively, so each defense could get the chance to turn the tide with a big play.
The Bears hope to receive a boost from the return of cornerback Jaylon Johnson (quad injury), who has been a full participant in practice this week.
“Short week, long week,” Chicago defensive coordinator Alan Williams said. “Any time we get him back, that’s a good thing. … That’s another able body and another veteran body, another really good player that helps us out.
“And it’s another guy that’s been in the battles and communicates on the field to help the other guys out.”
Dyami Brown (105 receiving yards, two touchdowns) and Terry McLaurin (76 yards) were prominent targets for Wentz last week vs. Tennessee.
–Field Level Media
